Hawthorne Valley Country Club

Northeast Ohio golfers are very fortunate. Hawthorne Valley becoming public is a huge upside. For years golfers have been able to play Donald Ross' Manakiki Golf Course and now golfers are to see his work at Hawthorne. If you include the two courses in Boardman, Mill Creek South and North, northeast golfers have four Ross courses to choose from.

Hawthorne Valley is an old east side golf club that sits on the border of Solon and Bedford Heights. It wasnt as prominent as some of the other clubs that dot this part of town, but it was still highly regarded as a great golf course. It reminds me a bit like Mayfield CC in the sense the clubhouse sits high on the hill while the golf course plays down in the valley. A creek intertwines with many holes but is more like a spectator than a participant as it only influences play on a few holes.

The first four holes are all par fours. They set a brisk pace of play and the player needs to strike the ball well to get off to a good start. The first plays straight downhill with trees both left and right. You want to be ready to play or you'll make bogey right away. The creek is 70 yards short of the green and poor drives need to be laid up to it. The second is a fine par four that is a blind dogleg left. A draw is the perfect shot from tee. The green is elevated and severely slopes left to front right. It's a common sight to see downhill putts since most players try to feed ball in from the left. Missing this green leaves a very tough up n down.

After a couple holes that should be good birdie opportunities, the player arrives at the first of four very good par threes. The fifth is classic Ross. The green is spread across an elevated shelf and the player needs to have correct club and shot selection to get close to pin. It's a beautiful par three. The par five sixth is next and it is a ninety degree turn left. It's another beautiful hole and probably best to setup a short iron third as the elevated green is very small. Seven is a lovely downhill par three that is well bunkered. Then the eighth follows with one of the city's finest par fours. It's 440 yards and plays downhill from the tee. The green is cut just beyond a roll in the hill. This roll flows into the putting surface and influences the strategy and shot shape of the approach. It's possible to take advantage of the roll, but not gauging it properly leaves a tricky recovery. A high draw comes in at a good angle and is a good shot. It's a great par four. The ninth is a pretty hole whose green is etched into the base of the hill nicely. It's well bunkered and is a good way to end the front nine.

The back nine starts off much like the front with a par four down the hill. Ten however is much shorter with a yawning bunker guarding the green. I personally like how the green is lower than said bunker thus making distance control a bit tricky. There had been some alteration to the back nine with a new pond built on opposite side of the fairway of eleven. This addition is makes eleven a terrible hole. The C shaped hole now is a crapshoot as you may be blocked out by the trees as lay up to the hazard. Maybe by cutting back the inside dogleg branches, the hole can be salvaged to be a neat little par four.

The next six holes are the key to a strong finish. Twelve is an uphill par three set in a small bowl. The front of the green is pinched in by a large tree on the right thus a fade is shot of choice. Thirteen is a gambling par five that follows. The fairway doglegs ninety degrees right around a fescue strewn hill. Big hitters can take on the hill and carry it, setting up an iron approach. It's still reachable if the ball is driven past it, but it's a 220ish shot. Truth be told, thirteen is only birdie hole on the back. There is a lot of pressure to walk away with a four.

The fourteenth is a long nasty par three where few people can actually hit the shot required. The volcano green is just a pedestal from the 200 yard tee, and the height needed to hold it belies most people's talents. The forward tees makes this a much better challenge. Nonetheless, if you're up on that hill, consider laying up. I ve made several pars this way. Fifteen is a nice par four. It d be better if the creek on the right was cleared of all the trees and vegetation. Then the tee shot would be quite the challenge. Sixteen is an excellent par four. The fairway cants to the left and a high draw can get some extra yardage which is needed for this 460 yard beast. The approach is unbelievable! The ball is above your feet, the green is downhill, and there's no bailout anywhere! Take your par and run!! Seventeen is a long par four that completes this stretch. The unfortunate water hazard from eleven comes into play on the left for the approach. With OB guarding the right, some may consider the second shot over the top. A good drive does take the sting out of the it, but it's still a round wrecker.

Eighteen is a necessary evil. After both one and ten played downhill to the valley, I guess it should come as no surprise the last hole plays up the same hill. It's really a slog of a hole!! Only the longest of drivers will view the green for the approach. Everyone else will be hitting a blind shot. It maybe one of the worst ending holes on a good course I've played.

Hawthorne Valley is regarded as one of the top ten public courses in the state. It's hard to argue with this, but I would put it just outside of it. It just needs a little bit of cleaning up. It's still a very good golf course and I truly love playing here. I've seriously considered joining here for a summer membership. (6 rating)

Sharon Woods Golf Course

There are many regional architects who have put a lasting imprint on the state of golf, but you would be hard pressed to find one who has touched it as much as William Diddel. An Indiana Hoosier, Diddel not only was an incredible player, but he was an accomplished architect who designed courses in five decades. He was also mentor to arguably the greatest modern architect to date..... Pete Dye.

When it came to the golf course, Diddel let the natural contours dictate the strategy. He was very good at routing it over the landforms and challenging the golfer to hit good shots. Many times he didn't put sand traps in. He felt the holes didn't need them.

Recently, I went to the football game in Cincy, and I was able to play nine holes at Sharon Woods. I was so impressed that I had to put in my blog. I have played several courses in the queen city, and this one quickly jumped to the top of the list as one of my favorites.

Holes 13-16 are a great sequence of holes. Thirteen is solid par three that plays across a shallow valley. It was dead into the wind the day I played it, requiring a fairway metal to reach the green. Fourteen is a wonderful looking par four with a rolling fairway. It's a great advantage if you're able to carry the crest. Otherwise, it's an awkward approach shot with the ball below your feet. Fifteen is a solid long par four. Sixteen is a great par five that plays out towards a valley before dipping down and back up to the other side where the green is located. Players who can carry the valley with their second shot are left with a much easier task of getting the ball closer to the hole. The majority of golfers will be trying to gauge a blind third shot. It was my favorite on the back nine.

The last hole was a good par four. The landing zone was a rolling sloping hill. Most good drives are going to funnel to the far right side. From there, its a straight forward shot to a green devoid of sand traps, just the way Diddel liked it!

Before I go on, I have to mention the par three 11th. 235 yards that plays uphill by at least fifty feet!! I never seen anything like it before!! It was both cool and somewhat stupid. I hit driver to it, and was able to up n down for a par from just short of the green. I hate to think how tough it played in the '30s!

Sharon Woods is owned by Hamilton county. If they put more money into this muni, I guarantee it would be one of the top public courses in the state. It justs needs cleaned up a bit, that's all. I must play the front nine next time I'm in town. I think it's a real gem of a course! (5) good rating.

                                          235 yard uphill 11th (50+ feet uphill!!)

                                          Tenth hole. Note the grass ditch short of the green.
                                           Diddel demands an exacting short iron shot.

                                          The picturesque par three 13th.

                                         If you can carry the slope to where the bunker is then
                                         its a short pitch into green. Otherwise the player will have
                                         an awkward lie with the ball below his feet.

                                         The second shot of the par 5 sixteenth hole
                                          (arguably the best hole on the course)

Eighteenth hole. Notice the hillside in the distance. It influences the approach in many ways.

Barberton Brookside Country Club

A well designed course that's in good shape and has an affordable price is exactly what I think golf needs. Barberton fits that description to a tee. Weekend play is in $25 range to walk and the course is kept in very nice shape. The greens were some of fastest we played on. If we had more courses like Barberton, I think there'd be a lot more participation in the sport.

If there's one valid critique, it's the short length of Barberton. The good player will be hitting a short iron into ten of the first eleven holes. Plus all four par 5s are in the first 10 holes, so there's a possibility of reaching one or two in two shots. The average player on the other hand will be quite content as the course will be playable and likely much more fun. The par four second illustrates this. The 350 yard par four has a water hazard that crosses the fairway diagonally. The proper line is to carry it to the left side leaving a favorable angle to the green. It's a well thought out hole. Nowadays, good players just play straight at the green knowing they can carry the hazard all together. Not quite what the architect had in mind I'm sure.

The third hole is another short par four but the main challenge here is hitting a precise approach to a green beautifully cut into the hillside. Get above the hole and three putting is a real concern. Many of these short holes have tough greens to keep you honest and to keep birdies at a minimum.

After a few more short par four holes and a good par five whose green is protect by water, we arrive at arguably the best hole on the course, the lovely par three ninth. Played over a shallow valley with a drop off on the left, the green is severely canted right to left asking the player to hit a controlled draw to obtain lower pin positions or hit a high cut to higher pin positions. Putting across this green is borderline unfair especially going downhill which easily can go off the putting surface.

The back nine is the better half in my opinion, and it plays counterclockwise around the front side. Several holes are set hard against the property boundary and the OB stakes play a large role in their strategy. The twelfth is one such hole, and possibly the toughest hole on the course. A long par four, the drive must be hit solid to leave a mid or long iron approach. Any type of slice will be punished with a two shot penalty. The green is similar to nine, severely sloping right to left. It's a very a difficult shot to get close to the pin.

The thirteenth is one of my favorite par threes. The tee is on the hillside and the shot plays across the valley to a green perched atop a plateau. A crease separates the front tier and the back tier, thus it can be a tricky proposition hitting the correct club. Missing the green means hitting a difficult recovery from an uphill lie. Fourteen is a wonderful par four whose tee and green a just a few yards away from the OB stakes. The player can hit on a straight line from the tee, but most will hit out to the left. Either way, the tee shot ends up in a valley tho the one out to the left is an inferior angle. The green has a back right tier so look where the flag is before walking downhill to your ball. 12-14 is a really nice stretch of golf.

The golf gets less interesting on the last four holes although 15, 16, & 18 all tee off next to the Boundary stakes. I think most OB shots are hit on these holes because players are starting to get tired. However, the land is pretty dull and shots not too exciting. The approach into 18 maybe the exception as the player tries to place his ball on the correct side of the green. The Ohio high school athletic commission makes this one of their courses for regional and state championship implications. That's a good endorsement for Barberton!! 4 rating (Above average)
                                    
                                          looking across the thirteenth, first, and fourth holes

                                          The ninth hole looking back towards the green.

                                          This is the ninth from the tee. You might not tell from the pic but there is a huge slope from right to left.

                                          Par four Eleventh hole

A very good par three thirteenth.  (Just think how intimadating it would be if they reinstalled the bunker short of the green!)